


Things We've Handed Down

by FridaysChild



Series: Things We've Handed Down [6]
Category: DCU, DCU - Comicverse
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-10
Updated: 2011-11-10
Packaged: 2017-10-25 21:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/275235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FridaysChild/pseuds/FridaysChild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack has a truly impressive number of relatives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things We've Handed Down

**Author's Note:**

> Title, which I finally got to use, from Marc Cohn's song of the same name.  
> The canon in this is pre-reboot. I also like to pretend that all the awesome characters are alive.

1\. Damian

Damian won’t stop staring at Jack whenever they’re in the same room together. It’s freaking Tim out a little, because even though Damian’s gotten a lot better since he was ten and wanted to kill Tim, he was still raised by freaky assassins. For all Tim knows, they used babies for ritual sacrifices. Or Damian’s planning on stealing him and training him to be an assassin.

It’s possible that Tim’s a little overprotective, but Jack was just born and he’s so small and helpless and Tim really wishes Damian would stop doing that. He’s about ready to stick to Conner like glue, because even though he could normally handle Damian, it’s a questionable thing when he’s relatively out of shape and holding a baby and oh yeah, stitches in his stomach.

So someone could have knocked him over with a feather when Damian finally bursts out with “Can I hold him?” and even though he’s trying to hide it, he looks so hopeful that Tim’s pretty sure he’s not planning anything nefarious.

He stares at Damian a beat too long because Damian starts to get the defensive-offensive posture that means he’s wounded and is going to spend the next week insulting Tim to make up for it. Tim kicks himself mentally and cuts him off before he can start anything. “Of course, sorry, I just didn’t know you ... liked babies.” Although maybe he should have, since the category of people Damian’s been consistently decent to since Tim’s known him has been people Damian’s age and younger. And cats.

“Tt,” Damian says, in lieu of a real response. “Are you going to share or not?”

“Right. Just support his head.”

“I’m a teenager, not an idiot.” It’s kind of a running Damian joke, because Damian is well aware that most teenagers are morons. “I won’t even take that too personally since I know parents are all overprotective of their spawn.” He smirks at Tim. He is very careful with Jack, though, and Tim finally relaxes enough to stop hovering and use the break to do some pushups and some stretches that won’t pop his stitches while Damian feeds him.

And, okay, apparently Damian is willing to change him, since he's in the process of doing so, and that’s totally okay with Tim, too. Tim loves Jack but baby diapers are gross and he and Conner are currently waging a war over them. Conner claims he can’t possibly do it because he has super smell, which is a power he’s never once mentioned in the past, so Tim’s calling bullshit.

“You secretly wanted a younger brother, huh?”

“Shut up.”

“Give it long enough, Bruce will adopt one.”

Damian rolls his eyes and starts singing something in Arabic. Tim knows just enough of the language to be fairly sure that it’s a lullaby and not anything he should be discouraging.

 

2\. The Kents

The Kents don’t even bat an eye at Jack’s unusual conception; Conner supposes with him and Clark hanging around for as long as they had, they’d seen way stranger. Also, considering he's a half-alien clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, Jack almost looks kind of normal. The Kents do insist Conner bring Jack to see them at the absolute first opportunity.

As soon as Tim doesn’t look like he’s about to fall over at any minute and Tim’s various relatives are done swarming, he bundles Jack into a carrier on his back, Tim into his arms, wraps his TTK around both of them, and flies them off to Smallville.

Ma and Pa are immediately smitten, of course. Ma coos like crazy and she’s already got bottles ready to go except for warming, so at the first sniffle she pops one in the microwave and then into Jack’s mouth. Tim decides Jack’s in good hands and stumbles off to sleep in Conner’s old room. Conner’s pretty beat, too, because Jack cries like all the time, but he’s not healing from major surgery and he’s got the cool sun energy thing going on so he’s not quite as ready to fall over as Tim is. And he wants to spend time with Ma and Pa and Jack; he loves Tim to pieces but this is also his family time.

“He looks just like you,” Ma says, cuddling Jack against her shoulder and rubbing his back.

“Ma, he doesn't look like anyone right now,” Conner points out. Of course she's going to insist he looks like Conner, but his eyes are currently a vague greenish color (Conner really hopes that'll change because he'd really hate to think that Jack somehow ended up with Lex's eyes instead of either his or Tim's blue) and he has a little tuft of black hair. At least he's not totally bald and green eyed. Conner thinks they'd both be a little freaked out if that'd happened. Even if most babies are born bald. Anyway, Conner's point is that hair aside, he just kind of looks like a baby, which is kind of tiny and adorable but he's pretty sure you can't tell if he has his or Tim's nose yet or whatever.

“Of course he does,” Ma insists, because she's a good grandmother and will probably argue this until Conner gives up, and therefore she automatically wins.

“All right, fine,” Conner agrees and reaches over to fluff Jack's cotton poof hair. “He totally looks just like me, but don't tell Tim cause he'll be mad if he looks all Kryptonian.”

Pa laughs and steals the baby from Ma. “I think they're all dominant. You're a near dead ringer for Clark.” Conner knows, because especially as he's gotten older and taller and broader, people think he's Superman really often. As Conner Kent he even confused Perry once, from across the room, which was hilarious. “So are we going to have another strong farmhand on our hands here?” he asks, tickling Jack. Jack doesn't smile yet but he sort of coos at Pa.

“I dunno, only if you can pry him away from the bats long enough. I'm currently negotiating with Tim for him to spend spring break and at least some of summer here when he's old enough. I can bring him by pretty often until he starts school, anyway, and even Batman concedes it'd probably be good for him to spend summers here. Um, if that's okay with you guys,” he adds belatedly. “I'm sure Tim'd be happy to let us pay for his room and board and all.” And by us he means Tim because Conner's pretty much just a full time superhero who has no problem whatsoever mooching off his boyfriend. And it's not like he's a bum or something, saving the world is serious work.

“Absolutely not,” Ma answers for both of them. “For one thing if he works like you two he'll save us the money of paying the fifty farmhands it'd take to do the same amount of work.” It's not actually fifty; he's pretty sure Ma is exaggerating to make him happy, but it still works. “For another, we absolutely want to see him every chance we get.” She gives Jack a huge kiss. “Look at him, he's adorable. And it's about time we got grandkids.” Everyone's a little confused about Conner's status, but Ma probably means that he's little and cute, unlike Conner who was kind of a surly teenager when he first came to Smallville. He still kind of hates the place, though it's a lot sunnier than Gotham. When he'd moved in with Tim he'd spent a good month being depressed because of all the clouds until Tim had made him fly up above them and sun himself. They still kind of depress him, but now he's better about remembering that if he starts to get cranky he needs to go for a flight to rejuvenate. Lately it's been flight with Jack time, which is fun because he gets Jack all to himself for awhile, though it's inconvenient when flying time is interrupted because Jack needs something. Conner usually tries to take him right after he's fed and changed and ideally while he's napping, because if Conner flies upside down he's pretty much as good as a crib.

“I will bring him as often as I possibly can,” he promises.

“Good,” Ma says, stealing Jack back and giving him another kiss. “And you tell Tim we want to see him some Christmases, too.”

Multiple bat-relatives aside, Conner is pretty sure he can win that one by pointing out that Tim is technically agnostic-Jewish. He celebrates commercial Christmas with Bruce and his brothers, but Ma and Pa have real Christmas, with pie. Alfred is a pretty good cook, he admits, but Ma makes the best pie he's ever tasted. The fresh ingredients help and Conner's started flying back fresh fruit from Ma and Pa for Alfred to use. Anyway, even if they spend the morning with the bats he can have them all to Ma and Pa in time for early Christmas dinner.

“Summers and Christmas. Duly noted. And he can come visit whenever he wants once he gets old enough to fly without getting lost.” Conner pauses. “And without deciding to make detours.” He's already thinking that he'll call Ma and Pa when Jack leaves and have them call when he arrives because he will know exactly how long it should take Jack and if he's more than five minutes late he'll get a grilling.

“And you're welcome anytime,” Ma adds. “Both of you and Tim, as well.”

 

3\. Clark

They’ve ended up with a rule that Conner and Jack don’t meet Clark and Lois in public places because the first thing Jack always does when he’s handed off to Clark is steal his glasses and try to teethe on them. He’s sort of hilariously consistent about it. Conner teases Clark that Jack obviously knows he doesn’t need them to see with. What makes it funnier is he never does it to Conner, but maybe his glasses look less edible. Or chewable.

Conner lands on Clark’s roof and taps on the door; Clark opens it and lets him in, stealing Jack immediately. Clark decided that Jack was going to learn Kryptonian when he’s a baby so that it’ll come easier, but mostly he just baby talks to Jack. Conner tries not to feel too resentful; Clark only started teaching him Kryptonian recently, and he’s appalling at it. Clark seems to be much more comfortable with Jack in general than he ever was with Conner.

And Conner gets it, he does. Jack’s a lot less personal and much easier in a way; he’s someone else’s responsibility and he’s not a clone and he’s not sixteen. Of course Conner hadn’t exactly known that Jack was a possibility either - and who was to blame for that? - but he’s got Tim and no one stole his DNA.

But it still stings just a little. Clark says “Hello, Jon-El,” in Kryptonian and then starts singing something that he must have learned from Kara because she’d sung the same thing to Jack the last time she’d visited Gotham. Conner only understands one word in ten - generous estimate.

“What’s it about?” he asks Clark when he’s done.

Clark lets them into the apartment. Lois waves absently without looking up from the computer she’s staring at intently.

“It’s a Kryptonian folk song reminiscing about the singer’s hometown. He talks about how he misses the scenery and his friends and family, and how he wants to return to the rivers and the clear orange skies.” Clark’s mouth quirks a little at the last part.

“Teach me?” Conner asks.

Clark smiles. “Of course.”

 

4\. Tim

Tim has rediscovered his love of photography and is driving Conner crazy by taking photos of practically everything Jack does. He has a digital camera and folders on his computer organized in some inscrutable way and backed up on three different devices. Conner would not be surprised to learn he’s using the batcomputer’s massive capabilities for the rather menial task of his fourth backup.

Everything Jack does, Tim takes a picture. Or at least it seems that way to Conner. “Maybe you could not take a picture of him drooling on me?” he suggests.

“You think he's adorable when he drools,” Tim points out.

“Yes, but I'm not adorable with drool on me.”

“It's not like you have to impress me.” Which is true, but Tim's perspective is entirely practical. Conner just doesn't want pictures of him looking gross floating around. “Besides, it's a digital camera. Don't have to have the film developed, so I might as well take as many shots as I like, and delete the bad ones.”

And he does. He has photos of everything, from the first time Jack smiled and the first time he laughed to his first solid food and his first steps. Conner probably ought to thank him, once he gets done making fun of him.

 

5\. Conner

Someone, maybe Ma, told him that as babies start to grow they like to explore things. For most kids this means grabbing things, and putting things in their mouths, and staring a lot, especially at stuff with bright colors. Jack does all of these things, but he also likes to “grab” and explore with his TTK. This makes it very hard to keep things away from him. They can put things in another room or out of his line of sight, but other than that he gets into everything, which means they have to watch him closely. Which makes Conner glad Jack has so many relations who are involved in his life.

Conner’s tried to get him toys that are fun to use his TTK on; a particular favorite is a xylophone toy. Jack likes banging on it with the mallets like any kid would, but he also likes to use his TTK at the same time, meaning he hits multiple notes at once. And not exactly in harmony. It drives Tim crazy. Tim tries to teach Jack to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Unsurprisingly, he’s not terribly successful. Conner tries to teach him to play Forget You just to balance Tim out (the clean version, of course, he’s not suicidal). Although if he’s honest he’s not much better with the xylophone than Jack is.

He also makes up “games” they can play with TTK; they’re games a toddler likes, so not exactly riveting, except Jack smiles and giggles and Conner loves that part. Right now they’re lying on their stomachs facing each other, pushing a block back and forth between them without hands. Jack thinks it’s fantastic, which Conner can tell by his gap-toothed grin.

He’s not sure when Tim snuck up until Conner notices that he’s leaning in the doorway watching. “So when can we have another?” Conner asks, grinning up at him.

“When you agree to carry it or I figure out how to grow one in a test tube,” Tim says. “Or Damian decides he really wants another niece or nephew and goes and steals the artificial womb tech from his family.”

 

6\. Bart

Tim’s fairly sure that nothing possibly could have prepared him for the trials of having a kid who's a meta. Normal kids run their parents ragged; Jack is even harder because he does things like pick up things and throw them without touching them way harder than any kid should be able to. Also, he starts to fly telekinetically around the same time he starts to crawl, which gives Tim heart attacks because the fall’s a lot further. They pretty much have to have someone watching him every moment he’s awake.

Alfred added a top to Jack’s crib so he can’t fly off in his sleep or before they notice he’s awake, which makes Tim feel terrible because it looks like his kid’s in a cage. But a cage is way better than broken bones for sure.

So Tim’s always really, really glad when Bart comes over. Iris, who hasn’t quite grown out of thinking she’s Bart’s sidekick (although her adoration for her older cousin is rather adorable), is often tagging along, so he gets two speedsters for the price of one.

Alfred plies Bart and Iris with massive amounts of food and they trade off, dashing back and forth between the table and whatever game they're playing with Jack. Iris likes to read to Jack at super speed; for some reason Jack thinks it's hilarious. To Tim it just sounds like buzzing; maybe Jack can keep up just enough that Iris sounds like a small rodent or something.

Bart, on the other hand, likes to tickle Jack at super speeds, which produces even more shrieks and giggles than Iris's reading. Jack tends to flail around so much when Bart does it that he wears himself out, and Bart and Iris will depart and leave Tim with an exhausted and happy toddler.

 

7\. Dick

Tim is doing some work on the computer with one ear tuned to Dick and Jack in the background. Jack has begged and begged to learn to “fly” the way Dick does, on the cave’s acrobatic and gymnastic equipment. Tim had deferred to Dick on appropriate age limits and Dick had just told Jack he was big enough to hold on so he was big enough to fly, and also to learn how to grapple and roofhop like his dad, although he wouldn’t be allowed to do that in Gotham proper until he’d had a lot more practice.

Jack had let out the kind of squeal that only a desperately excited three year old can make. “Can I have an outfit?” he said, tugging on Dick’s arm. “One like yours, Uncle Dick, please please.”

Dick laughed and told him he could have a Junior Robin outfit and had presented him with a mockup that looked a lot like his old acrobat’s costume only in red and black for his dads’ colors just before they’d started.

Jack had gotten up on the trapeze platform and locked up, which was where they are now. Dick is being remarkably patient with the sudden manifestation of a kid’s fear of heights, considering he’s a kid who can fly.

“Tell you what,” Dick murmurs. “How about we both jump into the net together? Then you can see that it catches you and it’s actually kind of fun to fall into. Though we shouldn’t do it too often so we don’t wear out the net.” Bruce had told Tim when he was training on the rock wall that every time he used a rope he should run it through his hands and feel for uneven areas where the rope might be weakening and need to be replaced soon. In reality, neither of them do it every time, but Dick checks his equipment religiously and replaces it at the slightest sign of weakness.

“Okay,” Jack agrees, voice a little wobbly. “You’ll come with me?”

“Sure will,” Dick says. Tim turns his head to watch out of the corner of his eye as Dick takes Jack’s hand. “One, two, three!” They jump off accompanied by Jack’s shriek and land in the net a moment later; Jack instinctively slowed his fall and he lands a moment after Dick does.

Jack lets out a delayed giggle.

“Fun, right?” Dick climbs out of the net and gives Jack a boost down to the ground.

“Uh-huh. Can I try swinging now?”

“I don’t know...” Dick pretends to hesitate. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“I’m sure!”

They climb back up to the platform. Dick has moved the trapeze close enough that Jack should be able to grab it. “Okay, Superbird, take a good hop and grab the bar and then just swing for now so you can get used to it.”

There’s a little yelp and then Jack’s yelling, “I did it, I did it. Daddy, lookit!”

Tim hits the save button and turns to watch Jack for a moment, smiling. “Good job.”

 

8\. Bat Family

Of course, if Jack was big enough to learn acrobatic maneuvers, he was big enough to start to learn fighting techniques, according to Bruce. Not that it was a surprise to anyone, but Bruce had been totally serious about the learning to fight with no powers thing. Conner sort of thinks Bruce might turn him off of crime fighting by being too zealous, but he actually can’t complain too hard about that since he’d be totally happy to keep his baby locked up somewhere where no one can ever hurt him. Unfortunately for that part of him, Jack’s almost as excited about learning to fight from Bruce as learning acrobatics.

No one bothers to discuss the basic martial arts training. If asked, Conner and Tim would have agreed that at the least, Jack should know how to defend himself and others around him, especially not knowing what his full powers are going to be as he ages. Bruce manages to remember to ask if Tim and Conner are okay with Jack being trained as Robin eventually, and Damian doesn’t even look too upset about them discussing it in front of him (although Tim supposes they’re going to need a different Robin in between, and where they’re going to find one is a whole other issue).

The question leads to a heated discussion between Tim and Conner while Dick flies Damian somewhere for outdoor rock climbing. It’s not quite an argument since they both have mixed feelings on the subject, so they take turns listing pros and cons. Heatedly.

Of course, it would be hypocritical of them to deny him since neither of them exactly waited until they were eighteen to start; on the other hand, neither of them can exactly forget that Conner died before he even made it to eighteen. The thought of their kid dying before them at any age makes Conner’s heart clench up, but he really doesn’t want it to be before Jack really even gets to live. He is perhaps more aware than most people of the life experiences Jack will miss out on the shorter his life is.

Jason’s name comes up several times in the discussion - whether his death was Bruce’s fault, whether he was on a self-destructive path no matter what would have happened, and generally whether him being Robin had been a good or bad thing for him overall. Of course, if he hadn’t he might never have come back to life - was that good or bad? And was he crazy because of what happened to him at the hands of the Joker, or because of the Lazarus Pit, or was it just in his nature?

Ultimately, Tim trusts Bruce and the rest of his family to look out for Jack. Conner and Tim agree that it will be a long, long time before he’s permitted out on his own. They like eighteen, but that’s probably not going to happen, and Conner concedes that Tim had been scarily competent even at fourteen.

Final decision: Jack will be allowed to become Robin if he keeps his grades up (Tim’s condition), still has time to visit the Kents at least once a week (Conner’s), and doesn’t do any solo missions until they both agree with Bruce that he’s ready.

 

9\. Bruce

Conner is pretty sure that most people, including him, are scared of Batman. Conner might be super strong, but Batman has a kryptonite ring and the scariest glare in the world in his arsenal, and Conner’s pretty sure he’s not above “accidentally” leaving the ring out if Conner annoys him too much.

Jack adores him, though, and his favorite game is to try to sneak up behind Bruce and try to catch him (Conner’s pretty sure Bruce made up the game in the first place because in Bruce’s world, even games are training). As far as Conner knows Jack’s never won the game because Bruce doesn’t let him win the way most people would; instead he gives Jack sneakiness tips.

Lately Jack’s started playing the game with other people, and while he never manages to catch any of the bats unaware, he’s scared the crap out of Conner at least twice. He has to forbid the game around Ma and Pa, which confuses Jack, but he doesn’t need Jack giving either of them a heart attack.

Bruce’s expression around Jack usually falls somewhere between fondness and stoic tolerance, mostly dependent on how loud Jack is being. Jack also doesn't fully understand the purpose of the no powers rule, and his second favorite game to play with Bruce is to try to use them without Bruce noticing. It drives Bruce utterly up the wall, even if he does understand the futility of explaining to someone Jack's age why he might need to know how to fight without his powers. When he's older they can tell him about Bart and how his powers were stolen or any number of other terrible stories, but Tim and Conner decided they don't want him to hear those things yet.

“It's sort of a game,” Conner catches Bruce saying one day when Jack got frustrated and started flying circles around the cave. “You know how you play that you can't touch the ground and no flying with your Uncle Dick.” Which drives Alfred crazy because then he has to clean fingerprints off the glass chandeliers. “If you could fly when you did it, it wouldn't really be a game, right?”

“Right...” Jack agrees, with the deep suspicion of a kid who's just old enough to realize that grown-ups say things like “Let's play a game; whoever talks first loses,” when they want their kid to be quiet.

“This is sort of like that. You have to do the training room without any powers because it's more fun if it's a challenge. And then I don't have to replace my dummies quite so often.” He turns to glare at Conner, who has the tendency to destroy them while training with Tim. Conner attempts to look innocent. Bruce is, of course, not buying what he's selling.

Jack is deeply skeptical of the concept that harder is more fun. “What do I get if I win?”

Bruce sighs and looks at Conner.

Tim had gone on about something he'd read in a parenting book about how rewards should be surprises and not expected. “Um, the satisfaction of winning?” Conner suggests. Jack continues to look unimpressed. “Do what Bruce says and I'll see what Dad says, okay?”

Tim's decision is that Bruce can give him rewards – surprises, of course – when appropriate, and tells Jack that Bruce doesn't have to give him anything, but maybe on days when he does especially well, he will.

Bruce says he wants to start out on a good note, and scoops Jack up onto his shoulders. “Ice cream?”

“Yay!” Jack says, and grabs onto Bruce's hair. Bruce doesn't flinch but reaches up and gently tugs Jack's hands away.

“Gentle, kiddo. You're gonna break me.”

Jack giggles. “No one can break you. You're Batman!”

“Yup. And Batman says you won the game today so we're going to get ice cream.”

 

10\. Batgirls

Tim’s honestly kind of relieved that Jack’s aunts aren’t quite as hands on as his uncles. Because sometimes it seems like he never gets to see Jack between weekends with the Kents, training with Bruce, and Dick’s and Damian’s game of “who can find the most dangerous activity.” Sadly he kind of trusts Damian more at this point; he at least has something resembling common sense, even if he was raised with the safety standards of a family of assassins.

Steph adores Jack and she’s always up for babysitting, but it’s clear that being around Jack is a little hard on her, too. It’s not as bad as when he was a baby, but sometimes Tim catches her staring at Jack with a faraway look and it’s clear she’s thinking about her daughter - maybe where she’d be now, or what she’d been like at Jack’s age.

Cass doesn’t make special trips to see Jack or anything, but when she’s in Gotham he starts following her around like a lost puppy and it doesn’t take her long to scoop him up into a hug or piggyback. Tim has never seen her talk as much as she does around Jack, a near constant stream, if somewhat halting at times, of stories about bad guys that she fought with his Daddy or with his Aunt Steph or other family members. Sometimes she tells him stories she just heard about, like the time Aunt Steph and Cousin Kara fought Draculas. Sometimes Tim worries she’s going to give him nightmares, but Jack seems to be aware that he’s surrounded by more dangerous muscle than some heirs to large kingdoms and he doesn’t scare easily. And she usually manages to make them less scary than they could be, so Tim gives her a pass on the storytelling. And it obviously makes her happy, so he lets her continue. He calls her Aunt Cass, and she almost always just calls him Nephew.

Babs just says she’ll get to know Jack when he’s old enough to learn to hack.

 

11\. Lois

When Jack was little, Clark and Lois liked to play this game where Clark would manufacture a reason to make Lois hold Jack for awhile and Lois would pretend she didn't want to. Then Clark would inevitably tell the baby that his Grandma Lois thought he was the most adorable thing in the world and Lois would throw a decorative pillow at his head and tell him not to call her Grandma ever again. Conner used to think they were really weird, but he and Tim do the same kind of thing so maybe he's got no room to talk.

Lois is really smart, but in a less intense way than Tim. Conner figures she's a good influence. Much as he loves Tim, the guy can absolutely obsess over things and not in a healthy kind of way. Lois can be like a dog with a bone, too, when she's investigating something, but she doesn't let it consume her. Conner's pretty sure Tim didn't remember he needed to eat half the time when he was trying to find Bruce when he was time lost.

So maybe Lois will balance out some of Tim's intensity. He's fairly sure Tim will kill him if he asks Lois to teach Jack to read, even if he argues that Tim is more analytical and Lois is more verbal. Tim's recently started to teach him at home anyway, and Jack is picking it up faster than Conner would have thought possible (not that he learned to read, per se, but he still kind of knows that it can be a long process for some kids).

Instead he asks Lois if they can tag along to work with her; Jack to see what she does because he's interested in her work and him to supervise Jack.

“I don't know,” Lois responds. “Do you think you can behave yourself for four hours?”

“That's hurtful, Lois. I'm a perfect angel.”

“I'm telling Tim you said that. Fine, but for the kid, not for you.”

Jack overhears and comes over to hug Lois's legs. “Do we get to go sneak around Luthorcorp buildings and write about how he's a bad man?”

Lois starts laughing. “Um, maybe not this time. Perry hasn't asked for any articles about how Luthor is a bad man. But I am interviewing Ted Kord Monday morning. Maybe that'd be a good one to look into.” She gives Conner a quick wink. Jack has been obsessed with Gotham's Blue Beetle since his reappearance, and has met Ted a few times, but doesn't know they're the same person.

“Boring,” Jack says.

“You've met Mr. Kord, right?” Lois asks. “Because he is not a boring person.”

“Yeah, but you're just gonna talk grownup stuff, right?”

“What, like about Kord Industries? Probably some, but this is a puff piece so we'll be talking about his favorite music and whether he's seeing anyone and that kind of thing.”

“Yuck,” Jack says, making a face.

Jack ends up loving the interview, because Ted is a great storyteller and he also hams it up a bit when he sees that Lois has a guest. Jack tells Lois he wants to be a reporter like her when he grows up, “when I'm not busy being a superhero.”

Lois laughs. “They're not all that good, kiddo, and Ted's not a great interviewee for this because he tends to get sidetracked. Bruce does a lot better – he gives short, punchy answers. Even if they are fake answers.” Lois is well aware that most of Bruce's answers are part of a facade, but rarely pushes him on it.

Conner and Jack spend the afternoon hanging out in Lois and Clark's apartment; when Clark gets home he presents Jack with a notebook and pen and “reporter glasses”, which Jack takes like he's been awarded the holy grail. He runs off to interview Lois, which she takes with good grace, and Jack scribbles down pictures because he doesn't actually know how to write very well yet, although Tim's working on that with him now.

When they go home, Jack gives Lois an “article” that's his drawing of a newspaper and a picture of Lois as the headliner. Lois grins and gives him a kiss and sticks it on her fridge.

 

12\. Dick and Damian

Dick and Damian have a Most Awesome Uncle competition going. They like taking Jack out for the most outrageous activities that they can think of, most of which are adrenaline inducing. Tim finally has to put his foot down because no six year old has any business hang gliding as far as he’s concerned.

Tim’s really glad that Jack is so popular, but some days he wishes Dick and Damian could just take him to the zoo or something. Together.

“I’m taking Jack to the circus tomorrow.”

“Now wait just a moment, Grayson, I was already planning to take him to the amusement park.

Tim clears his throat. “Guys, may I remind you that Jack is my kid? I get time with him, too. And I really don’t want to mediate your custody disputes.”

Dick almost looks sheepish. Damian doesn’t bother.

“I’m taking Jack to the museum tomorrow. It’ll be educational and the exhibit there now has a couple of pieces my dad discovered. I want Jack to see it. I’m glad he has a big family that wants to spend time, I really am, but my father is not going to be forgotten either. You are both welcome to come but next time check with me before making plans.” Tim turns and stalks out of the room, looking more like Bruce than ever despite his shorter stature.

Tim wins, of course, and they all end up going to the museum.

 

13\. Tim

Jack has a giant brain, which is not at all surprising to Conner; with Tim and Bruce and Babs around, there was no way the kid was ending up dumb. Also, he does have those pesky Luthor genes, but Conner knows Tim’s not real keen on his kid being related to Lex Luthor so he doesn’t mention it too often. Though he’s not real sure why it bothers Tim more with Jack than with him. But whatever, they don’t talk about it and everyone’s happy although he’s still not sure how they’re going to explain when he starts wondering who his unmentioned grandparent is or was. Maybe they can convince him that Tim’s parents plus Clark and Lois plus Bruce actually means he has an extra one. That’ll work until...well, until he’s older, anyway, and then he’s going to be pissed. Thankfully he’s not old enough yet that they’re really even hiding it.

But regardless of origin, Jack’s giant brain means he’s picked up on the fact that a) Tim is his Daddy; b) despite being a man, Tim gave birth to him and therefore Conner calls him Mommy to tease him; c) Tim pretends to be mad when Conner does it; d) Tim secretly likes it when Jack does it. Therefore, Jack does it, but only when Conner is out of the room.

It’s not like he makes a real habit of listening in on their conversations, anyway. It’s just that sometimes when he’s off saving Metropolis or Smallville or wherever and Tim’s just getting up from a late night of saving Gotham, it’s really nice to check in at home. Make sure everything’s okay. And it always re-energizes him for kicking giant robot ass.

A tap at Tim’s door. “Can I come in?”

“Course, kiddo.” A yawn. He can picture Tim’s sleepy face and bedhead easily.

“Are you okay? Uncle Damian said you got hurt.” Conner’s heart stutters a little, but Tim is talking and calm so it’s probably okay. He makes himself calm back down.

“Uncle Damian needs to keep his big mouth shut,” Tim said dryly. “Just a cut, stitched up, all better. You wanna see?” There’s a pause. “C’mere, then.” He hears Tim shifting in bed and the sound of the covers being pulled back, and can imagine Tim pulling Jack in against his side. He hears Tim give Jack a kiss to the top of his head - probably a big hug, too.

“Get better soon, Mama,” Jack says, and Conner grins. Yeah, his son might have a bazillion uncles and aunts and grandparents, but he _so_ taught his son all of the important stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> I suspect super smell is actually a real Superman power, but Tim thinks Conner is making it up, just like I think Superman is making it up when he comes up with "super math" or the like.
> 
> I should have named this the Fluffy Fic of Fluffiness and Clouds and Sheep. Seriously, I hope you weren't expecting anything else.
> 
> I don't have anything further in the works for this series, except for two orphaned snippets that I don't know what to do with and a couple of half-baked plot ideas. So you may or may not be seeing more in the series, depending on how inspired I am.
> 
> The song Clark sings is based on a Japanese folk song called Furusato. You can listen to it [here.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcmcXrCihrA)
> 
> A big thank you goes to [clex_monkie89](http://archiveofourown.org/users/clex_monkie89/pseuds/clex_monkie89) for always being my DC sounding board and helping me brainstorm this one, in particular Cass's bit.  
> 


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